Influencing factors on university students’ walking behavior in Tehran, Iran

In general, the accessibility concept is defined as a performance indicator and a connector between transportation and land use planning and can affect commuters ’travel behavior. However, walking accessibility planning has received more attention from scholars in recent years as it is able to help cities approach the environmental sustainability goals in collaboration with other relevant and important qualities of urban built-up areas, involving land use mix, intersection density, socio-economic status, and perceptions toward built environment. This study aims to determine how walking accessibility, built environment characteristics, households' status, and perceived urban settings influence university students' walking behavior as they comprise a noticeable proportion of daily trips in Tehran. The results show that mixed land use, intersection density, closeness to public transport stations, perceived appropriate walking infrastructures, and accessibility positively affect walking frequency among university students. In contrast, socioeconomic factors had a negative correlation with the walking frequency that by increasing ages and households' income, students were less likely to walk.

کلیدواژه ها:

walking frequency ، walking accessibility ، perceptions ، built environment ، university-related travel